Frampton picks Lee Selby to beat Josh Warrington

Boxingnews24.com

By Trevor McIntyre

Carl Frampton sees Lee Selby (26-1, 9 KOs) beating challenger Josh Warrington (26-0, 6 KOs) tonight in their fight at the Elland Road Football Ground in Leeds. Frampton (25-1, 14 KOs) doesn’t really care which of the two emerges as victorious, as he believes he can beat them both with ease when the time comes.

Frampton, 31, just mostly hoping the winner of the Selby vs. Warrington fight emerges without injuries, because that would prevent him from getting a fight against one of them in a timely fashion.

Selby, 31, is the older fighter of the two by four years in comparison to the 27-year-old Warrington, but age doesn’t seem to be a problem for him at this point. Selby is still fighting at a high level and not showing signs of wearing down. In Selby’s recent fights, he’s easily beaten Eduardo Ramirez, Jonathan Victor Barros, Andoni Gago and Eric Hunter. Those fighters aren’t in the same class talent-wise as Warrington, and that makes it hard to predict with any degree of certainty that Selby will be able to dominate tonight like he’s done in the past. It’s a different ballgame for Selby with him fighting Warrington instead of the other five opponents he’s faced since winning the IBF 126 lb. title three against ago in beating Evgeny Gradovich in 2015.

“If I had to choose, I think I’m going to go for a Selby victory. Warrington is very determined and may have some success late on in the fight – depending on how Selby has done the weight because he’s quite big for it,” Frampton said.

Frampton already has his next fight date booked on August 19 at Windsor Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Frampton could be facing Selby or Warrington if they get through the fight tonight without getting cut or injured in some other manner. Frampton’s in a situation where he could possibly face the winner of the June 9 Leo Santa Cruz vs. Abner Mares II rematch if he wished to, but it would probably mean that he would need to agree to fight in the U.S for him to make that happen.

That would mean that Frampton might have to accept facing Santa Cruz in Southern California rather than having him come over to Belfast to fight him. Frampton doesn’t want to fight Santa Cruz in Southern California, but he’s probably not going to ever get him to agree to fight in Belfast. The reason for that is because the questionable scores that the three judges turned in for the first Frampton-Santa Cruz fight in July 2016 in New York.

While the fight venue should have favored the American Santa Cruz, it actually favored Frampton due to the large crowd of Irish boxing fans that showed up from the New York area to give support to Frampton. Santa Cruz had almost no fans prevent on the night in their fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Frampton was being cheered the entire fight by the pro-Frampton crowd, and it’s believed by some that the judges scored the fight based on the applause from the fans rather than what took place inside the ring that night.

“I don’t actually care who wins. I want to fight the champion either way,” Frampton said. ”All I’m hoping is that it’s a first-round blowout so it guarantees there are no injuries, cuts or broken jaws. I want the champion to come out of it fit.”

Frampton might be able to do better against Warrington’s fighting style than he would fighting the more fleet of foot Selby, who makes it a point to keep out of harm’s way. Frampton would have to be not only quick on his feet to get to the 5’8” Selby, but he probably need to mug him once he gets close for him to have a chance to knock him out. Selby fights to go the distance, and he’s not going to give Frampton any chances at all to land his power shots.

Frampton looked good recently in beating 35-year-old former four-division world champion Nonito Donaire by a 12 round unanimous decision last month on April 21 at the SSE Arena in Belfast. That was far from an easy fight for Frampton despite getting the victory. It was a better performance from Frampton than in his previous five fights against Horacio Garcia, Leo Santa Cruz [twice], Scott Quigg and Alejandro Gonzalez Jr. Those were all very hard fights for Frampton, and he’s quite fortunate that he didn’t emerge from those five fights with at least three losses.

Santa Cruz appeared to beat Frampton twice, and Horacio Garcia fought well enough to deserve a win over him. Scott Quigg fought well enough to deserve a 12 round draw. With different judges in those fights, Frampton easily could have a 2-3-1 record in his last six fights. The fact that Frampton record is 5-1 in his last six fights is more indicative to where he’s been fighting than in how he’s performed lately. It’s good news for Frampton that he’s on the verge of facing a non-puncher in his next fight against the winner of the Selby vs. Warrington fight, because he could use a rest at this point.

“People think because of my stature I’m more of a brawler but I’m a good boxer,”Frampton said. ”Selby is very skilled but a lot of what he does is flash and doesn’t have an effect. It’s often for show and there’s little in his punches. I know I could outbox Selby. I definitely know I could outfight him but I truly believe I’d outbox him as well,” said Frampton.

Most knowledgeable boxing fans are well aware that Frampton is a boxer/puncher, who can box as well as punch. That’s what makes him so hard to beat. He can fight on the outside or live on the inside in his fights. Frampton has quick feet that allow him to dive forward from the outside to land a couple of hard shots and then escape to the outside. Santa Cruz had huge problems with Santa Cruz in their first fight when he tried to box him first five rounds from the outside. Frampton was continually charging in to land fast punches and then get away without getting hit. It took Santa Cruz five rounds to figure out the only way he was going to beat Frampton was to walk him down and pressure him nonstop, which is exactly what he did in that fight.

Selby should be able to outbox Warrington if he stays at range and takes advantage of his length. Selby doesn’t need to stand in the pocket and allow Warrington to get his shots off, because he’s probably not going to win a fight like that under those conditions. Warrington is decent brawler for a fighter without a great deal of punching power, and he might be able to get the better of Selby in that kind of a fight. I think Selby is too smart for that. He knows what he has to do for him to win this fight, and it’s clear that his best shot at winning is to box from the outside and move for 12 rounds. Selby has got to frustrate Warrington, make him angry and get him to take a lot of chances that puts him in a position where he’s vulnerable to getting hit.

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